RefBan

Referral Banners

Friday, August 17, 2012

Ford Honors Carroll Shelby With This 850-HP Shelby GT500

August 17th, 2012Top Story

Ford Honors Carroll Shelby With This 850-HP Shelby GT500

By Matt Hardigree

Ford Honors Carroll Shelby With This 850-HP Shelby GT500Like a chainsaw made of bacon, the 2013 Shelby GT500 is magnificently batshit and distinctly American. In honor of the late Carroll Shelby, Ford, Friends of Carroll and Shelby American just released a one-off 850-hp version of the GT500 at Pebble Beach.

They also announced the addition of "Carroll Shelby Way" to Ford's Dearborn campus. Can someone please get us a shot of the commemorative GT500 doing a massive burnout on Carroll Shelby Way? It's what he would have wanted.

Shelby enthusiast, storyteller, and Ford Marketing Chief Jim Farley joined a gaggle of Shelby fans to show off their latest creation. With a custom wide-body kit, Guardsman Blue-with-Wimbledon White stripes paint job, and other touches it's a nice homage visually to the great Texan gearhead.

The more apt tribute is under the hood, though, where the big V8 is upgraded with a Ford Racing 4.0-liter Whipple supercharger. These specs make it fairly similar to a Shelby 1000 — if not identical — thus the custom bodywork.

Farley hinted at the announcement about the future of this project:

Ford Honors Carroll Shelby With This 850-HP Shelby GT500

"You might also know that Carroll was a philanthropist, noted for supporting causes that moved him," added Farley. "In that spirit, this car will be taken on tour around the country, and hopefully will be used in a special way at the end of its tour, a way Carroll would appreciate."

See you at Barrett-Jacskon, then!

Photo Credit: Matt Trombley/Ford

Number of comments

No comments: